Matthew Wright 'superfan' could face jail after admitting to following star home during six-month stalking campaign

The former I’m A Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here contestant said Ranicar believed they had a “connection”.
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A “superfan” of TV presenter Matthew Wright is facing a possible jail sentence after admitting repeatedly turning up uninvited at the star’s family home in a six-month stalking campaign.

Michelle Ranicar, 54, followed Wright home from recordings of his Channel 5 TV show The Wright Stuff to find out where he lived, and sent him a series of messages about his family with pleas to contact her.

Wood Green crown court heard Wright and his wife Amelia were left “alarmed and distressed” by Ranicar’s appearances outside their family home in Primrose Hill.

On Tuesday, Ranicar admitted a stalking campaign between November 2018 and May last year, during which time the presenter and his wife welcomed their first child, Cassady.

"Things started escalating from her thinking that I was looking at her in suggestive ways”, Wright told his TalkRadio listeners last year.

“She started turning up at events where some of my better-known friends were and talking to them, and of course repeated visits to home.

"Amelia with a newborn baby feels really under threat from her. I don't feel physically under threat from her at all. I really don't want her to be nicked for it.”

Matthew Wright and his wife Amelia welcomed their first child together during Michelle Ranicar's stalking campaign 
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The former I’m A Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here contestant, 55, said Ranicar believed they had a “connection”.

He told listeners: "I want her to get help, but the trouble is that mental health services are not what they once were, despite all the pledges of cash from government."

At an earlier court hearing, the court was told how Ranicar “became aware of the home address having followed Mr Wright home from the television studio”.

In a 2016 interview, Ranicar described herself as a “superfan” of The Wright Stuff and regular audience member, saying she attended recordings three times a week and “felt part of something while I was on the show”.

However she complained at the time that she had been wrongly dubbed a “stalker” and banned from the show after sending Wright a birthday card with a declaration of love.

“I haven’t had anyone show an interest in me for years, I misread the signs. I found him physically attractive and felt there was some chemistry”, she said.

"I obviously misconstrued the feelings between us. I felt a bit silly afterwards. I was a superfan and I maybe took it a bit too far.”

Her barrister, Saul Herman, said Ranicar has “significant learning disabilities” and he would be seeking a sentence that included supervision sessions and treatment.

Ranicar, from Uxbridge in west London, has been banned from contacting Wright or his wife as a condition of her bail, including on social media, and is banned from visiting their home.

She pleaded guilty to stalking on Tuesday, having earlier denied the charge.

Judge Joanna Greenberg QC adjourned the sentencing hearing until November 30.

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